Project Car / Motorbike thread. Let's see 'em.

Sam.

Sam.

Eats Squid
Toff said:
Don't want to spend a fortune, was hoping for ~$150 per pair of splits, ~$200 for the head unit, ~$500 for a sub/ amp combo and ~$150 for a 4 channel amp. Obviously willing to spend a bit extra if the gains are worth it, but after $1k it turns into a diminishing returns senario from what I've heard. These are all second hand/ ebay prices, not keen to pay retail.

Out of curiosity Fairy, what gear are you currently running?
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Toff, head on over to: http://www.sonicelectronix.com/

I bought all of my audio gear from there, came with wiring harnesses wiring kits and everything necessary bar tools to install my system. I did all the installation myself and ended up saving a serious amount of cash (in the region of something like $2000) after receiving a few quotes from places around my area.

I'm running:

Alpine R series 6.5 splits (I bought two pairs for $180!)
Vibe CBR10 EVO in an active box, in terms of power it packs a lot of punch for such a small sub, from memory its running 600w rms and 1300 peak ($200)
Pioneer DEH-P5200HD Head unit ($120) Has I-Pod connectivity which is what I mainly wanted, I wouldn't go Pioneer again, though. Definitely look into Alpine head units.
I went for a Hifonix amp, 800w peak and 100w rms which matches the speakers, it was $180 from memory. I would choose it again, for a relatively un heard of brand over here I'm impressed.

I'd definitely consider running a circuit breaker instead of an inline fuse, they're only about $20 and flicking a switch is much easier than replacing a fuse. Also look into a capacitor, my battery can't quite keep up without mine, especially at night running lights and aircon etc, so I purchased a capacitor recently and it has made a big difference, with my system I went for a 2 farad capacitor, but that's a bit over kill. I could get away with 1.5 farad. (They say 1 farad to every 1000 rms watts).

All that said postage is a bit of a killer, but the whole order which included a few extras (some hid lights), random electronic pieces for around the house and a bit of extra wiring and a few switches among other things the order cost me ~$1500 Australian dollars, posted. To put it into perspective I got quoted $800 alone over here retail for the sub alone, and $350 for a pair of R speakers...

As I said earlier, all wiring and such I ordered too from there, they threw it in for free because I waited for them to get some products into stock. Dealing with the guys at Sonic is pretty easy too, reply to emails is prompt and they have an option in checkout to post a gift message so you don't get stung with import duty.
 
fairy1

fairy1

Banned
Toff said:
Since you seem to be the car audio guru round these parts, I'll direct this your way (but if anyone else has something to add feel free):

Trying to plan out a sound system for the esky. Right now its just got the stock AM radio so it's pretty much a start from scratch deal. I'm after good sound quality rather than massive volume levels, but it'll still get a share of the clockwise twist.

Starting with the head unit, is Alpine still the way to go? I'm hesitant to go for anything Kenwood/ Pioneer/ Clarion etc. and Alpine is the only brand I know of thatn seems to get the consistant thumbs up.
Just go into a shop and have play with the headunits to see which one is easy to use, I don't really think it's a case of this brand is better than that(except Sony it's all crap) it's the same with bikes no single company will have the best headunits in their class(price range). JVC do seem to make some awesome headunits at decent prices and the finish on them is pretty good.
Onto the speakers, I've been thinking that 6.5" splits all round might be the go this time round, after hearing from a few people that 6x9's don't really offer good sound. Any reason why not? Have any experience with Hertz gear?
I'd put 6.5" splits in the front and just some two way coaxials in the rear, if you can afford to run an amp to the front speakers it will make a world of difference to sound quality when turned up and will reduce the chance of frying your speakers.

People don't like 6X9's because it is quite difficult to make one that sounds nice, I think the shape changes the way the sound leaves the cone or something like that, I'm not really sure but if you have a sub you dont want 6X9's anyway.

The boot is surprisingly big, so I reckon I could fit one or possibly two 12" subs (or 10's. any reason to go 10's over 12's except for space?) in there with realtive ease. Again what brands should I be looking at?

I'd go a single 12" in a sealed or ported box, a decent 12" sub is able to put out a serious amount of noise for a daily driver. A ported box is more efficient so it will generally use half the power to make the same output as a sealed box and you can tune a ported box to the frequency you want.

As far as amps go, does branding really matter as much? I assume it's still a good idea to steer clear of Fusion/ Jensen but so long as you can match the RMS power requirements then it should be right, yes?

Fusion is fine, Jensen-not so good, if I have to buy more amps I would use Jaycar amps as the build quality is much better than other amps at the same price. I still don't know if their full range digital amps sound any good so possibly steer clear of them?/COLOR]

Don't want to spend a fortune, was hoping for ~$150 per pair of splits, ~$200 for the head unit, ~$500 for a sub/ amp combo and ~$150 for a 4 channel amp. Obviously willing to spend a bit extra if the gains are worth it, but after $1k it turns into a diminishing returns senario from what I've heard. These are all second hand/ ebay prices, not keen to pay retail.

That isn't a huge amount of money, definately put cheaper speakers in the back and spend the extra on the fronts. Usually when you set up a niceish stereo you run the front speakers a lot louder that the rear because sound genrally comes from in front of you not from behind.

Out of curiosity Fairy, what gear are you currently running?
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Blaupunkt HU, Zapco 750.2 amp for the 6.5" mids, Soundstream(shit!) TR800/5 for the 2" midrange and the tweeters(uses 6 amplifier channels just for front speakers) it aslo has a sub output. Speakers are CDT(not a fan) and the sub is an Earthquake Subzero 10" which is nice but has been troublesome.

Actually if you can have a listen to a Jaycar amp it might be good enough and you would only need the one amp, run the front speakers off it and bridge the rear channls to run the sub-500W RMS is plenty and any more will hammer your charging system.
 
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F

felts bend

Likes Bikes
Toff, with the esky if the interiors in good nick put your cd player in the little shelf thing where the bonnet realease is(also hides it from view) and please try not to cut the interior for speakers. :) Sorry for the directions i know its your car and you can do what the f**k you like i just dont like seeing escorts hacked up
 
leitch

leitch

Feelin' a bit rrranty
top_dog said:
Top show Leitch!!! I've still got my 172 and my bro's got an R26 if you want to go for a RS spin.
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Ah man I didn't know you still had the 172!! I'd be so down for a re au renaultsport spin... I'd kill at least 3 hookers for a go in the r26. I'm hanging out for a track day that I can take the Clio and the Polo to together for some fun.

By the way, how fucking good are Brembos!?
 
floody

floody

Wheel size expert
felts bend said:
Toff, with the esky if the interiors in good nick put your cd player in the little shelf thing where the bonnet realease is(also hides it from view) and please try not to cut the interior for speakers. :) Sorry for the directions i know its your car and you can do what the f**k you like i just dont like seeing escorts hacked up
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^Kind of with this guy, the 'back in the day' setup as with my Esky van's souped up Cassette/FM unit was mounting it in a DIN cradle under the dash near the drivers door.
If you could possibly get spare door cards you'd be doing well, would be a shame to cut anything you couldn't restore.
 
floody

floody

Wheel size expert
condog said:
Ohk cool, although im not really doing it for the handling side of things. Its just riding on the road wears through the dirt tyres so quickly!
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Theres 21" fronts made for harleys, and rears aren't too hard to get. Actually fitted a few for use at road race track days, and they worked acceptably well for a bit of fun.

Otherwise just get some road/trail rubber.
 
top_dog

top_dog

Likes Dirt
leitch said:
Ah man I didn't know you still had the 172!! I'd be so down for a re au renaultsport spin... I'd kill at least 3 hookers for a go in the r26. I'm hanging out for a track day that I can take the Clio and the Polo to together for some fun.

By the way, how fucking good are Brembos!?
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There's plenty of track days at both QR and Lakeside. The R26 is nice. So much torque everywhere. Bit lacking in excitement compared to when a Clio comes on cam though. The Brembos are great and Mike's have that authentic racing car squeal. I'm home until Wednesday if you're free Mon or Tues.
 
Plow King

Plow King

Little bit.
Pretty sure I'm half Lebanese.

I just bought a WRX, enjoy body building and am thinking of putting a sound system in it...
 
top_dog

top_dog

Likes Dirt
Round three of the Queensland Formula Ford Championships was done and dusted two weeks ago now. It was an eventful weekend thats for sure.

Got disqualified from qualifying for being underweight: 492 kg rather than the minimum 495 kg so had to start from 12th.
Race one I worked my way back up to 4th.
Race two I finished 2nd but had to cop a 30 second penalty for (mildly) jumping the start.
Race three I started 10th, got back to fourth by the end of the first lap, nearly lost it at 165 km/h coming onto the straight, recovered, did my fastest lap of the weekend (new PB) then promptly did a Mark Webber impression at 198.6 km/h. That race is below, good view:
[video=youtube;GN0hxXWg4us]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GN0hxXWg4us[/video]

Overall though I was happy with my pace. Car is not too flash though. Basically everything from the engine back is bent: 5 wishbones, 2 pushrods, 2 CVs, 2 rod ends, the floor was ripped off, bellhousing bent, a few chassis tubes bent, one snapped etc etc.
 
P

pinkgoat

Likes Dirt
A little OT, But I saw a Bentley Continental GT on P Plates yesterday. No Joke.

Light blue on Oxford St in Paddington. Sitting on chome wheels no less.
 
Plow King

Plow King

Little bit.
top_dog said:
Round three of the Queensland Formula Ford Championships was done and dusted two weeks ago now. It was an eventful weekend thats for sure.

Got disqualified from qualifying for being underweight: 492 kg rather than the minimum 495 kg so had to start from 12th.
Race one I worked my way back up to 4th.
Race two I finished 2nd but had to cop a 30 second penalty for (mildly) jumping the start.
Race three I started 10th, got back to fourth by the end of the first lap, nearly lost it at 165 km/h coming onto the straight, recovered, did my fastest lap of the weekend (new PB) then promptly did a Mark Webber impression at 198.6 km/h. That race is below, good view:
[video=youtube;GN0hxXWg4us]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GN0hxXWg4us[/video]

Overall though I was happy with my pace. Car is not too flash though. Basically everything from the engine back is bent: 5 wishbones, 2 pushrods, 2 CVs, 2 rod ends, the floor was ripped off, bellhousing bent, a few chassis tubes bent, one snapped etc etc.
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Fuck me!

I bet a little but of poo came out. Sick driving though. Unfortunate about the end. Gotta be stoked from starting last and pulling those results.

Good work :)
 
O

Oliver.

Liquid Productions
top_dog said:
Its not too bad. At this stage it'll cost about $500 to fix her up.
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Haha, wow...that's about the cost of a nice intake! That doesn't sound bad at all

It seems from the video that he jammed on the brakes quite hard, but I think most of us are too used to driving a regular-weight car. Seems like dabbing the brakes on a sub-500kg car would make it stop pretty quickly!

Looks great fun
 
B

brisneyland

Likes Dirt
Ouch!

Is that some new chicane out of Carousel?

Pork Hunt Racing has picked up a new sponsor BTW... Kaliber in the Valley have given us a bit of cashola.

Picking up new rubber ASAP, need to get some stickering/vinyl done up - anyone have any contacts in Brissy?
 
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